The Sketch book
by Saphireanime
Summary: Kagome has always loved art, and the feudal era is the perfect inspiration, but when Sesshoumaru starts taking an interest, both art and her second home turn into her worst nightmare. rating might increase.
1. Chapter 1

**Don't own Inuyasha, don't own the picture. You must have seen it! Own the story though and any reviews I may receive. I have found out I enjoy writing drabbles and short chapters, though this is a little long for a drabble. Enjoy.**

**Sketch 1 - Passion**

When Kagome turned 15 she fell down an old well and gained her first two passions. Kagome was only passionate about two things really – Inuyasha and art. With Inuyasha it was more of a romantic passion which developed more or less straight away, whereas with art it was an interest which she entertained with devotion. She gained the passion with art due to a piece she was given for her 15th birthday, that one had nothing to do with the weirdness of the portal to the past. She received no love back from either of her passions but she tried her hardest to stay devoted to both even so. A whole month after turning 15, the devotion paid off.

Her grandfather had encouraged her to enter her art – which was pretty good if she did say so herself into competitions and you may win something which gave you the ego boost you need to promote yourself further. She had heard that you must have passion in your art in order to make a drawing in anyway good. She came up with the perfect solution – drawing Inuyasha, not only did she have passion in art, but also the hanyou himself. He was unique and incredibly lifelike, while people would think she had drawn him purely out of imagination she had actually just drawn him from memory (it was not like she could get him to hold still for a pose).

It placed second out of 8000 entries and her prize was 2 years out of school to attend art classes. If she did well she may be able to put some pieces into an exhibition, and get paid! She could save up to go to college or university if you will. She did not have much to thank the hanyou for, but his unique looks had given her the chance of a lifetime. What is more she would have more free time than she did with school so she could spend more time in the feudal era, her inspiration was here anyway. No more illnesses from grandpa, less grumbling hanyous – less sits about complains to go home, no school! No homework! That was probably the best part.

Inuyasha never learnt the reason behind the huge hug he received one month after meeting the girl. He presumed she was glad to see him; she was still all gooey eyed over his promises to protect her with the blade when Sesshoumaru attacked after all. She planned on him never finding out exactly why she was pleased about that fact because he would probably kill her if he found out what had won her place at the art college. The judges probably laughed so hard they couldn't help but give her the prize. Two hundred thousand yen was not a bad prize at all, (about £1600) but Inuyasha just acted (and sat) so much like a real dog sometimes.

It was endearing in a way. Reminding her just how much of an animal demons could be, and his mouth certainly reflected it. She had seen him scrambling around on the floor catching scents and that just made her laugh more and love him more dearly. She had a passion about animals ever since she met him too, not just dogs, but cats too which is why she adored Buyo so much. You needed to write a title for you picture, a short biography about yourself and a short biography about the picture. You needed to state your inspiration for your idea, and after a short think she decided to write a short storyline to go along with it.

'_Demons and half demons do not merely exist in stories, if you look hard enough you will find they walk around in today's world. For some reason, maybe because of posture, maybe ears, this particular hanyou was not hard to indentify at all."_

She called it 'he's looking at you!"


	2. The bone eaters well

**O.K here is the next chapter, please review. I actually look on google images for each chapter and find something by the way, but the website does not allow the images to be uploaded. Feel free to do sketches for it or look online yourself though, times like this I really wish I could draw so I could go on Dokuga, or just my profile I guess and do a sketch companion.**

**Enjoy and Review!**

**Sketch 2 – The bone eaters well**

The first class was literally a dream come true, it was as if they knew she had this trouble with the feudal era to deal with on top of, you know, everything else. As soon as she entered the class they were given their project, their only project really. For example, one person in their class was going to his project on flowers. He was going to research them, what they could be used for and do a sketch on each one. He would do herbs and trees too in time and Kagome was sure that such a useful book was sure to get published.

She looked down at 'he's looking at you', and wondered how she was going to create a book. Then again, in the feudal era there was just a mountain of adventure. It was going to be an illustrated novel then, perhaps if she was approved she could become a manga artist, turn her adventures into a real thing people could read and enjoy. The flower boy, as she had taken to calling him, was allowed to miss several classes to be closer to his inspiration for longer periods of time. After explaining that although her pictures were purely from her imagination, her inspiration came from near her home, she was soon given the same liberty.

'He's looking at you' would be the front cover, she decided, but the first three sketches of her story was due in two weeks time when she had to turn up for class and have them assessed. She packed her paints and pastels and sketchpad, the most important one, into her yellow pack and headed for the shrine house. Most of her drawings would be of Inuyasha she was certain, she would have to make sure they varied so as not to bore the teacher that would be monitoring their projects and tutoring them with techniques.

It was very much independent work with these classes, you had dates to hand in assignments and get feedback, and the rest of the classes were pretty much optional. She could barely contain her good luck, but she had worked for it, she spent hours over her art. In between normal school up until now that is, demon hunting, shard detecting, Shippou rearing, Miroku slapping and Inuyasha sitting it was quite tiring. She was going to be able to spend much more time in the feudal era than she was previously able to, which meant Inuyasha would be happy. She opened the door to the shrine and stopped as a thought hit her.

She took the bag off of her back and brought out her paints and sketch pad. She was due back in the feudal era in one hour, which was just enough time to do one drawing, probably not enough time to paint it, seeming as you needed to allow it to dry. 40 minutes later she had a perfect sketch of the bone eaters well in the sketch pad, she had always been fast; she was impressed with how it turned out as well. Maybe she would keep it as a line art, not all of the pictures had to be in colour after all, if she had the time perhaps she would do it later...

With a smile on her face she packed her sketchpad and utensils up and called it 'the bone eaters well'. She wrote down a couple of sentences as to why it was called that, the legend behind it and where it led if you happened to be her. With that she jumped down in the direction of new adventure and new inspiration. Not only was she twenty minutes early, but the assignment had only been set today and already she had the first picture done. Admittedly it was not her best, but she would compensate with the other two, maybe she would do more than two more, the bigger the book the better after all. She made a note to scribble down a few sentences about how the bone eater's well started off the crazy adventures of 15 year old Kagome.


	3. Now that is a picture

**Enjoy and review people. I'm off to uni now, so updates will be sporadic and less frequent, sorry, but I will not abandon it**

**Sketch 3 – Now **_**that **_**is a picture**

Kagome arrived just as Inuyasha did to bring her back to where she belonged, according to him that is, she was still undecided about that. "Hey wench, what took you so long to get back," he said in a grouchy tone, and Kagome immediately grew angry. Of course the more rational side of her brain told her that in order for him to speak to her like that, something bad must have happened on this side of the well to make him so irritated. He usually gave her a little bit of respect because of the face plants if nothing else.

The other less rational side of her brain was having trouble getting past the 'wench' part of his speech, let alone the reasoning behind it. She decided to let this one fly, and only if his behaviour continued would punishment be in order. "I will have you know that I am 20 minutes early Inuyasha, you said be back by noon, and it is not quite noon yet, it is 11:40. You have no right to shout at me, in fact you have no right to be angry even if I am late, you are not in charge of my life, and I have responsibilities in my own time – you know that."

She usually got angry when the hanyou's idiocy made her repeat this statement again and again. However, today's class had just gone so well, not to mention she had already completed a third of her first assignment. She did not want anything to ruin her good mood, although Inuyasha had always been good at it. "We need to hunt for the jewel shards, I do not care about your other responsibilities, the Shikon jewel is a lot more important. The safety of the world is at jeopardy here woman, detecting those shards is you most important responsibility!"

He was treading on dangerous ground right about now, he was just asking for it. "Alright Inu, just drop it, I am back now," she said heading towards the village.

"Do not dismiss me like that woman!" Inuyasha yelled in outrage, "I am you alpha; you should pay me some respect!" He knew immediately he had overstepped his boundaries and his ears flattened against his head as Kagome turned to him in outrage and screamed the submitting word he hated with all the might she could muster.

All of her anger drained out of her as she looked at him in an Inuyasha shaped crater, it was hilarious. It was too good to let it pass her by.

Now _that _is a picture.


	4. The Inutachi

**Sketch 4 – The Inutachi.**

She was about to start the biggest, most complicated painting yet, it would take a couple of days, but as long as she did the outlines in the same day then she could take her time colouring it. Inuyasha was actually the easiest to draw, but that is because she had drawn him many times before and only found it hard when she tried to draw him in different and interesting positions. After all if all the pictures were the same the judges and teachers would get bored and not give her the good grades she needed to get a name for herself.

She wrote a little biography for each of the characters she drew. Inuyasha was drawn with his transformed sword outstretched and mouth open to reveal his fangs. '_Inuyasha is the alpha of our little group, he can be immature at times but a wonderful fighter and protects us well. He wants to kill our enemy Naraku to avenge his dead love Kikyou. Being a hanyou he is stronger than a human and even stronger than many demons due to his training and breed as the son of the legendary Inutaisho, former Lord of the West. He has claws and fangs and many attacks such as blades of blood when he uses his own blood to strike down enemies. That sword is called Tetsusaiga, left to him by his late father and only in that transformed state and not a rusty little thing when he is using it to protect humans (such as myself)._

The next person she drew was Miroku using his wind tunnel. _'Miroku is a monk, but far from holy, this is his cursed hand, a wind tunnel that can be used to suck up his enemies into an endless void. Every time he uses however it gets bigger and will one day swallow him up like it did his father and grandfather. He wants to defeat Naraku to close up his wind tunnel and live the rest of his lecherous life in peace with the only one he truly loves – Sango. His other hand is just as cursed seeming as it never seems to be able to stay off the backside of the nearest female getting him slapped. He asks every female, be they old enough or not to bare his children, funnily enough as soon as someone accepts he runs a mile. He also uses his golden staff for exorcisms and to fight or to thwack Inuyasha when the sits are not enough to subdue him. He always seems to sense a ghost haunting the house of the headman of a village when we need a place to sleep for the night. In the morning when we have been fed and thanked we have decided this is pure coincidence._

She also drew Sango in her battle mode, boomerang ready to swing. _'Sango is a demon slayer, the last of her village, the rest were slaughtered and her brother Kohaku is being controlled by Naraku. She and Kirara are valuable assets to the team. She hits Miroku on the head with her boomerang when his hands wanders too close to her but secretly loves him. She is like a sister to me and she rides into battle on the fire cat' _Kirara was practically impossible to draw; the sketch she managed was not all that good.

She could not draw Shippou in any other way than as an adorable kit. She took time over his clothing and his lovely orange hair, he was always so cute. _'Shippou is the pack's kit, adorable as he is mischievous he is always playing tricks on us like he did before we met him and took him in. Now he adores me as his surrogate mother and Inuyasha protects him on pain of death from me. He likes him though, he is cute and can transform into many things, his favourite being a big pink ball, immature like him, but useful seeming as he can fly. His weapons are toys such as spinning tops, using the power of illusion only to work._

The last character she drew was Myouga, though there was not much to draw or to write. _'Myouga is a cowardly flea, he is very old and very knowledgeable, so if we have a question he will almost certainly have the answer. However at the first sign on danger he is nowhere to be seen (probably why he has lived so long) and only returns once the enemy has been defeated._

The last member to draw was her, Kagome Higurashi, time traveller and the Shikon miko. She hated drawing her own lanky figure; it was not as attractive as everyone else in the tachi, except perhaps Myouga. It was done in seconds. On the Brightside, her first assignment was completed; she had done not three but seven pictures, all she had to do was paint them before the end of the month which was in about twenty days now.


	5. ChibiYasha

**Sketch 5 – ChibiYasha**

It was nearing the end of the month and she had heard from her classmates on a visit home to go to art class and catch up that they would be taught how to sketch with pastels and chalk for the month after the next. What is more, her next drawings had to reflect that, she had no idea how to use chalk or pastels which means she would be spending more time in the modern era. She was currently working up the courage to tell Inuyasha this. He was slowly beginning to learn though that Kagome held power over him and he could scream and shout as much as he wanted but either he let her go home of his own accord or she sat him into submission.

She wanted to help here in this era though and that was why she got the three (or seven) paintings she needed to get down over a month before they were due in. She started to practise with pastels, but it was like learning art all over again, she had never gotten the hang of it. Even Inuyasha, her greatest inspiration just came out looking wrong. She had talked to flower boy, the top of the class and he, of course, was good at everything, but even his lessons were only improving her marginally. Plus he did nothing for free, she had been making him a bento for every lesson he gave her, he never even offered her a bite of it.

The idea was to draw something smaller, all of her pictures were huge, usually A3 or larger. But Flower boy was fine because his sketches never exceeded A4, not even the trees – though he preferred bonsais anyway. But you still had to have passion in it, and she only had one passion other than drawing, Inuyasha. But you cannot draw Inuyasha in a small space because you miss detail, you can't get the hair right of the eyes, you need space for it. What was making it even harder was that she was going to have to do drawings of him without him being there because he would be in the feudal era with explicit instructions of pains of being sat not to come for her.

Draw something smaller – ten pictures of something smaller, pastel drawing were always meant to be small so they had to do more, they were only doing one month of pastels whereas they had had two on paint. Now she was an expert on getting the wrong end of the stick and although she knew what was meant by smaller, A5 or A6 instead of A3 or A2, she just could not draw anything apart from the people she loved – people – and you need space for that for detail. And then it struck her, Shippou was tiny, as was Myouga, but she could not just draw them again and again. What is more her Inuyasha pictures were popular at school.

Her answer came in form of a story from her puppy eared passion, he talked about his childhood, and how no one had accepted him, not even Kikyou had the way she had. His childhood – she could not get her mind off of it – thus ChibiYasha was born. Ahem, that is the pastel colouring, not the... you know, ChibiYasha the hanyou.


	6. Fighting pose

**Sketch 6 – Fighting Pose**

Pastel art was a nightmare. It just did not flow the way she liked it too, not in the way paint and pencils did. You did not have to wait for it to dry but you had to use hairspray to firm the picture, and it still took forever. She grasped the pastels and chalk to get a more vibrant colour so hard they snapped in her hands and her wrists and fingers ached terribly. Because the pictures were small they required a great deal or persistence and concentration. At least when she was painting she had gotten so good she could maintain a conversation with Shippou at the same time, Inuyasha though, that was too much to ask.

Miroku knew better than to come near her with his cursed hand, the right one, and even Sango stayed away when she was fretting over the pictures. Her friends all assured her they were good, Shippou even conjuring up the courage to climb into her lap to tell her so. They were good, but not as good as everybody else's; especially flower boy who was just annoyingly good at everything. Painting was her only area of expertise and nothing was going to usurp it or come anywhere close. She was not enjoying doing them, because there was nothing interesting to draw, but she had to do at least one big picture just to flip off flower boy.

Something had to happen for her to draw, but Inuyasha throwing blood shurikens through mutilated youkai caterpillars just did not seem worth drawing. Then suddenly, "take cover!" Inuyasha barked jumping down from a tree he was in, Kagome just managed to move her pictures so they were not landed on. He started snarling in a particularly feral way and Kagome knew that could only mean one thing, his brother Sesshoumaru was coming. There was no love lost between her and the Daiyoukai after he tried to kill her – twice, and he was super mean to Inuyasha, and he needed to fight him to protect her and the others, but she had work to do here.

He appeared about thirty seconds later, strolling casually into the clearing as if this was an arranged meeting, but then the ice Lord had always been weird that way. Inuyasha already had his sword drawn and screaming profanities at him, "what are you here for now bastard, you ain't getting my sword, the old man left it to me for a reason." Sheesh she had heard this many times before, his brother was not even after Tetsusaiga anymore; he couldn't even hold it and understood his little brother needed it to keep his demon at bay. But then again, if he wasn't here to fight for the sword, it begged the question what he was here for, it certainly wasn't to chat.

Kagome noted that Rin and Ah Un were not with him, not even that annoying toad Jaken was with him. He was almost certainly here to fight then, and he just did not want that little girl to see violence, of course easy way to do that was not seek them out to pick a fight. "I killed the dead clay pot Kikyou," he said in his emotionless voice, causing everyone to look up, astonished. Inuyasha was in shock he did not immediately spring into action, his eyes just widened and his mouth fell open as he staggered back a couple of paces from the surprise as if the news was a physical blow, it certainly probably hurt as much as any.

"I caught her passing information onto Naraku about your plan of action and the fact that you turn human once a month. Of course my actions would not be necessary if you did not liaison with her the way you do and give her such information. While I would be happy to let you die for your mistakes, the Shikon miko needs to live in order to defeat the evil hanyou and make sure no other entity arises." His eyes flicked to hers for a moment and she breathed a sigh of relief, so not only was he no longer trying to kill her, but he wanted her alive.

She had been telling Inuyasha Kikyou was bad news for months and he had not believed her, or refused to listen. She was glad Kikyou was dead, again, as horrible as it sounded, but it was such a surprise that it was Sesshoumaru who did it. She wanted to thank him, but she somehow doubted that would go down well with Inuyasha. Even watching Inuyasha's face contort into unimaginable hate and fury and grief, and as much as she loved him, she just could not feel any remorse, not even any passive sadness, she was too glad. She knew however when to keep her trap shut; maybe she would get a chance to than Sesshoumaru privately at a later date.

Suddenly it all became too much for him and he launched himself at his brother, sword drawn and a roar on his lips. There were even tears in his eyes, this was... this was a real picture, she looked to Sesshoumaru, he looked pretty cool fighting too. Emotionless fights heartbroken, yeah, that seemed like a good title, but Kami, his clothes were difficult to draw. She had never seen Inuyasha fight with such ferocity, he really loved her, and she could not help but feel a little hurt at that and she was sorry Inuyasha was in pain, but if she was helping Naraku, that made her the enemy too. She was no longer the woman he once loved, she died a long time ago, that Kikyou that Sesshoumaru had just killed was someone different to who he remembered.

She gathered up her pastels and climbed up into a tree to start the piece of art. She drew the outlines, which took a good twenty minutes and looked up to see they were still fighting and still both full of energy. She started to colour it in, but two hours later when she looked up, they were still going strong. Miroku and Sango were nowhere to be seen; they had been smart and vacated the area with Shippou and Kirara. Kagome supposed it was good to stay here and carry a broken and battered hanyou back to camp. She loved Inuyasha she really did, but as good a fighter he was, Sesshoumaru was always going to be better.

Then again, she did not want to be anywhere near him for a while, he was going to be grouchy and tough and vacant for a while as he healed. She was sure to take the brunt of that, there were going to be thousands of Kikyou comparisons and insults, she could see them coming now. Perhaps it would be best to go home for a while, polish up her newest pastel master piece, go to class, and see her family. two weeks should be enough, he wouldn't be all better by then of course, losing your love was not easy, but she could not stay longer than that.

She had obligations here starting with the jewel, she had a son she could not abandon, and friends she could not bear to leave. She jumped down from the tree and headed off in the direction of Inuyasha's forest, it should not take more than four hours to get there. At least Inuyasha was too preoccupied to stop her going, hell; he didn't even notice her leave. She ran into Sango on the way there who offered her Kirara for the trip, but Kagome wanted the walk this time and was pretty sure she could protect herself on the way there. Well, one good thing had come out of that fight, she had an awesome – large – pastel picture.


	7. Envy

**Sketch 7 – Envy**

Upon going to class Kagome found out that she had placed top of the class, she was up there with flower boy with top scores. Kagome however had a sneaking suspicion it was the story going along with her pictures that was admired more than the actual artwork. This understandably gained her a bit of jealousy from her classmates who wanted to know how she placed top marks when she wasn't even there half the time, even flower boy attended more classes than she did. They were all excellent artists o course but they lacked that creative part of their mind that Kagome also didn't have. The only time she had to come up with a story was when she was asked by her peers how she had come up with such an action packed and entertaining idea.

She found herself put in an awkward situation, because she had always been horrible at telling lies. If she said it was her biography more or less they would think she was joking with them, but then they might dislike her for not being honest with them while they were already jealous, something that always sparked hate. She opened to a random picture of Inuyasha, "it is not completely my imagination," she admitted, "I draw my boyfriend. I met him not that long ago, he likes to do sword fighting," she said, turning to a picture of him with Tetsusaiga drawn. "I thought he looked so cool I asked him to model for me to draw.

"I can't really explain the dog ears and the claws," she said, "but he really does have golden eyes and he really does sit like a dog," she said pointing to his position in 'he's looking at you'. "My grandfather tells me all these stories about feudal Japan and demons roaming the earth the myths surrounding this gem called the jewel of four souls that gives the holder great power. So I decided to use this as inspiration, and I made Inuyasha a half dog demon hence the 'Inu' in his name. As for the traditional olden clothing, I got him to wear it while posing, apparently that is what they used to wear back then and I called it the robe of the fire rat because it was red and it just sound cool and it flowed on my tongue," she said lamely.

"What about the other characters," one of the girls pressed, pointing to Miroku, "is a friend of yours too?" _And is he single?_

"Miroku is a friend of mine, and he is a lecher with cursed hands, but no wind tunnel of course. Sango too is my friend, but she is not as tough as in the picture," she lied, "but she does love Miroku, and he loves her too, he just won't say it. Shippou is a child that Inuyasha took in because he was an orphan on the streets, sounds like something in stories, but he is a really good guy. Shippou hero worships Inuyasha so that is why he sits like him like so," she said pointing. "He really is that small, and can easily rid on your shoulder like shown, and though a bundle of energy and joy he is really mischievous so I decided to draw him as a kitsune."

"Who is this hottie?" The same girl questioned, pointing to Sesshoumaru.

"That's Inuyasha's older brother, he is pure evil, and not just in the story. He fights Inuyasha all the time and actually fights with swords and stuff, I don't mean like squabbling. That is why I made him a full demon; there is no humanity in that one. I drew this while they were fighting, neither of them knew I was there, I just came across them in a clearing and decided to draw it. Don't get me wrong, it is not as bad as it sounds; I mean if I tried to break them up while they were at it I would have probably been caught in the crossfire and killed. In fact, the only character purely of my own imagination is Myouga, even Kirara is an actual cat Sango has, but she can't really transform into a huge fiery beast, and only has one tail."

She gathered up her pictures and headed home, she wondered how she was going to cope for a couple of weeks with no inspiration to draw. Well, it was all part of the story; she guessed she would draw her mother and Souta and herself while she explained how she was steering clear of the feudal era due to Inuyasha mourning over his lost love. While at home she drew a quick sketch of Kikyou and her soul collectors to show just exactly what Inuyasha was mourning over but it was not all that good seeming as it lacked passion.

"Hey Kagome," flower boy asked her when she was in class the next day; he had not been there when she was talking about her 'boyfriend'. "I was wondering if you would like to go out sometime, we could go out for a meal or catch a movie." She looked up shocked, never did she think something like this was going to happen, he reminded her somewhat of Hojo. Damn, this means she is going to have to learn his name, Kyo, or something like that she thought. Seeming as she and Inuyasha were not official she smiled and nodded, this was exactly the sort of thing she needed to occupy her two weeks, maybe he would let her draw him, Kagome the character's life after all had just been proposed to by Kyotori.

The girls watched in amazement as she walked into class the next day holding hands with the most handsome boy in the school and turned green. Yes, envy me, she thought gleefully, wondering why she had always said no to Hojo, maybe because she grown to like Kyo a bit more. Envy me, you don't have to fight for your life every day against horrid demons. You do not have to raise a kid when you are barely more than a child yourself. You don't have to deal with an annoying hanyou who throws insults at you and it hurts because you love him.

Envy me.


	8. The sweet with the bitter

**Sketch 8 – The sweet with the bitter**

Two weeks passed by quicker than she would have liked, she surprised herself by enjoying her dates with flower boy, or Kyo as he preferred to be called. She loved the feudal era of course, it was her second home, but she just wished those two weeks had passed a little slower. She wanted to return to Shippou and Sango and Miroku and Kirara but because Inuyasha had not come to collect her Kagome surmised he was not ready to continue the shard hunt yet, or maybe he just couldn't face her because of her likeness to his dead love.

Still, she had made a promise to return after two weeks, and she was not one to abandon her duties. With a sigh, she heaved the huge yellow pack higher onto her back and jumped down the well. The familiar blue light washed over her and with a flash there was blue sky above her instead of the wooden ceiling of the well house. She climbed up the vines like she had done one hundred times before and hopped over into the feudal era. However instead of landing on soil, she landed on something soft and warm that let out a yelp.

Startled she rolled off the yelping ball to see she had landed n a young girl wearing an orange and white chequered kimono. "Rin chan," she said, surprised, "what are you doing in Inuyasha's forest all by yourself? She had never seen the girl alone before, she always had the toad with her and the dragon if she was not with Sesshoumaru. It was then she got to look at her face and saw she was upset, her eyes were red so it was obvious she had been crying recently, and there were bags under them too, "Rin chan," her voice was more gentle, "are you lost?"

"Kagome sama," she said in surprise and relief, Rin can't find Sesshoumaru sama anywhere! Two weeks ago we saw a bad lady talking to a man in a baboon costume; Rin could not hear what they were saying, but Sesshoumaru sama could and he killed her with his whip, but she just turned to ash. The baboon man got away and Sesshoumaru sama was really angry still and he said he wanted to go and find his brother and Rin had to stay with master Jaken and Ah Un. But he didn't come back, and he always comes back the next day at the latest."

"Let me guess," Kagome continued for her, "you got worried when he did not come back and decided to go and look for him."

"Rin know Sesshoumaru sama told me to stay put, but Rin was just so worried and it is lonely without my Lord, Jaken is mean and doesn't like Rin very much."

"Well, I guess I have a little bit of free time," she did no really want to go back to Inuyasha so soon anyway. She held out her hand for the little girl to take, "come on, we will look for your Lord together, we will have more luck that way. You should have faith in him though, Sesshoumaru is very strong, he probably didn't come back because had an important errand he had to run. He leaves you with Jaken because he trusts him and he wants more than anything for you to be safe. I think he would be upset if he found out you wandered off, the forest is a dangerous place to be on your own, come on, let's go find your travelling companions."

As they were walking around in the forest, circling around where Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha had been fighting, Kagome asked something that had been bugging her for a while. "Rin chan, why do you stay with Sesshoumaru?" She was such a sweet little girl, so why on earth would she want to be with such an evil icicle? It didn't make sense to her, but what was even stranger was how much Sesshoumaru seemed to care for her, and he said he hated humans, and she would not have put him down as the parental type either, yet he had a young girl as his ward.

"Rin found Sesshoumaru when he was hurt and stole food for him so he would get better. He refused it at first but Rin kept bringing it to him, and even though the villagers beat her for it, Rin could tell he needed it. He asked how Rin got bruises and that was when Rin loved him because he cared. Then wolves attacked the village and Rin ran away to warn Sesshoumaru sama that he had to get away, but the wolves reached Rin and killed her before Rin got the chance. But Sesshoumaru sama came and saved Rin's life with his sword." Tensaiga, Kagome thought, she was surprised, so Sesshoumaru had saved the life of a little girl. "Since that moment Rin has never left his side, Rin doesn't want to be anywhere else without him."

They spent two days in that fashion and they did not run into any of the Inutachi or Sesshoumaru's group. They did have a few scuffles with lower demons after the Shikon jewel, but they were very weak and had no shards so Kagome was able to kill them herself. It was as she was preparing ramen for the two of them that Rin posed her first question about the strange food. "I have never had any of this tasty food before Kagome," they had dropped the honorifics with each other for a little while and once Rin was comfortable with her she had started speaking in first person rather than third, mimicking her guardian's way of speak. However, occasionally Rin would call her neesan, and Kagome had no problem with that at all.

"I am not surprised Rin, this is food that you can only get in my village," she declined to tell her the whole business with the future.

"Then I would like to visit your village sometime."

"I would like you to as well, but that is not possible."

She looked disappointed, but she did not question why. "Then once we find Sesshoumaru sama can you visit us at the Western castle?"

Kagome smiled again, "I wish I could, but I am very busy with the jewel shard hunt and obligations in my village, so I will probably never find the time."

She looked disappointed again, but did not lose her smile completely. "Sesshoumaru sama always likes to have meat, so it is nice to have something different."

"Well I can't hunt," Kagome said.

"Really?" Rin seemed shocked.

"I never had to learn, I can fish and catch small animals, but even you can do that. I just do not like to prepare animals and I don't eat meat."

"Why not?"

"I do not see why something has to die to fill my stomach when I can eat berries and plants instead; there is no need to kill another creature."

Then suddenly as they were settling down for the evening again around a fire, marking the end of three days together they heard some heavy breathing nearby.

They knew it was him before they found him, but he was hurt badly.


	9. The fallen warrior

**Sketch 9 – The fallen warrior**

"Is he alright?" Rin asked, looking down on her guardian with large, worried eyes, Kagome supposed she had never seen him like this, but then again, neither had the miko herself. He certainly did not look alright, but his injuries were mainly bruises and they were healing up, he must have been hurt badly if it took him two weeks to get to this stage. Surely it was not Inuyasha who did this, even with the wind scar it would take him this long to get better, and when she had left them, Sesshoumaru looked as though he did not want to hurt his brother too badly.

She certainly was not going to tell Rin any of this, "I am sure he is just fine Rin," she told the little girl, ruffling her hair with a gentle smile; "I think he just needs rest." She grabbed the Daiyoukai under the arms and dragged him out from behind the bush nearer to the fire and rested his head on his mokomoko as Rin suggested. Maybe Naraku had come across him when he was on his way back to the group and attacked. Now they had found him safe and sound Kagome wanted to take her leave, he was likely to kill her once he woke, which would be soon.

Then again, she did not want to leave Rin while he was still asleep, still not fully healed, it seemed irresponsible, and she had grown very close to the young child in the time they had spent together. This was especially so seeming as they had not found the toad and dragon that watched over her. She was sure the girl would be fine, even if she left, meaning the miko barrier she had put up over the clearing masking their presence would be gone, Sesshoumaru was still with her. His strong aura was enough to scare away any lower level youkai anyway, even when he was unaware, it had kept him safe for up to a fortnight after all.

Once she snuggled up to her Lord the little girl feel soundly asleep in an instant, leaving her awake and alone, bored. She looked back down at Sesshoumaru, this was a sight she would never see again, he was usually so omnipotent looking. She only had one picture of him in his fighting pose and he looked so calm and serene, like he knew he was going to win. 'Why not take a picture', she thought, they last longer. With a smile she got out her pencils and started to draw him in the glow of the firelight and called it 'The Fallen Warrior'. _It would seem that the Western Lord Sesshoumaru is not as omnipotent as he would like to believe._


	10. Why the sudden interest

**Sketch 10 – Why the sudden interest?**

Kagome was the first to wake up the next morning. Sesshoumaru was still out cold, but he twitched a little and his eye lids fluttered so Kagome reckoned he would wake up very soon now, probably later today, being near a fire probably helped him. The sky was dark, but morning was well on its way, and Rin usually woke up at about that time. Kagome decided that she may as well cook breakfast; she had plenty of food left in her bag, though she should probably go home and stock up again before heading off to try and find Inuyasha.

The smell of bacon wafted through the air and Rin woke rather rapidly after that, a lot like her uncle Inuyasha really, he always had the uncanny ability to wake up just after she had finished making breakfast. They settled around the fire which was now just embers but amazingly still slightly alight, enough to cook anyway, and ate vegetarian bacon butties whilst chatting about nonsense. Just as she had finished washing up, Sesshoumaru opened his eyes. Rin noticed immediately and jumped on him and Kagome suppressed the compulsion to run off.

His eyes alighted on Rin and the smallest of smiles came onto his face, "Rin, why are you alone?" So he was genuinely concerned about her.

"I was so worried about you Sesshoumaru sama, you have been asleep for a long time, and I am so sorry I left Jaken, but I meant to come straight back to him and Ah Un I promise. But I lost my way, but I was just trying to find you," she gushed all at once, words not quite slurring into each other. "I am not alone though," Kagome noticed she was no longer talking in third person but in first just as she had leant in their time together. "Kagome neesan found me and looked after me and with her help we managed to find you!"

Sesshoumaru sat up and his eyes went to her immediately, "what are you doing here, onna?" Kagome's normal reaction would be to demand her use her name but did not fancy being pinned to a tree via her throat for the disrespect so held her tongue. "You have strayed a long way from Inuyasha, it is dangerous in the woods." He was scolding her, but he had said before she needed to stay alive in order to defeat Naraku.

"That is rich coming from you," she said sarcastically, "I am not the one who left a little innocent girl with an incompetent guardian so I could go off and fight my brother and end up half dead. I happen to have found her and kept both her and myself alive and well for three days here in the dangerous woods without help from you or Inuyasha." He started to growl and Kagome could tell he was angered by how rude she was, but it was the truth. "Now you are better I am staying here for tonight and then I'm going back to your brother."

An hour later Rin was eating something from Kagome's bag and Sesshoumaru was sitting propped up against a tree watching Kagome. The black haired teen was drawing as per usual and trying to ignore Sesshoumaru's amber eyes as they followed every movement, it was most unnerving. She did not understand how her drawing could be just so interesting that he could not take his eyes off her, for they followed the movements of her fingers and flicks of her wrist. He had stopped growling at her at least, but he still looked at with intensity.

Eventually she had enough, "look," she said with a sigh, looking up from her work to the demon Lord still staring at her, "there is really nothing that exciting about what I am doing, I am just drawing." He looked up with a cocked eyebrow, "would you like to see?"


	11. Familiarity

**Sketch 11 - Familiarity**

"So this one," Kagome said, leaning against Sesshoumaru's fur as she sat next to him, "is the one that won me the competition in the first place. "Inuyasha is only half dog but he always sits in that canine way, unlike you who are full dog, you sit like a human, no offense, seeming as you are likely to take that in offense." She turned a couple of pages, "and this one is him practising his wind scar with Kirara, using her demonic energy." She turned another page, "oh, and this one is of him and Shippou playing, well I say playing... it's more of Shippou pranking-"

Sesshoumaru stopped her by placing a finger on her lips, shutting her up instantly. "Are there any sketches that are not of Inuyasha?" He said that in a tone that was almost bored, well more bored than his tone usually sounded, it must be tiring to have a miko that never shut up show you picture after picture of your worst enemy. She repositioned herself so she was back leaning against the tree, she did not want him to behead her for touching his person without permission. She looked over at Rin who was sleeping soundly by the fire in the glow of the evening, so innocent and peaceful, it must be nice and quiet and peaceful in his pack.

"Yeah, I have sketches of all my friends," she replied, going back to one of her first drawings, the inu tachi. "Here I have one of Miroku, Sango, Shippou, Kirara, Myouga, and here are several drawing of my family, my little brother Souta, my mother, my grandfather and a good friend of mine called Kyo. I am compiling my pictures together to make an illustrated story, maybe I will say it to my son one day, which is Shippou by the way, I adopted him. But most of them are of Inuyasha yes, you see, to create a good picture; you have to draw something you are passionate about. What I am most passionate about in the world is Inuyasha."

She turned another couple of pages, surprised that Sesshoumaru was letting her do this, but in all honestly he did not have much of a choice seeming as he was not well or healed enough to get up and go. This is what one feels like when being shown a billion and one photos from another person's holiday and you just don't give a shit. But suddenly Sesshoumaru placed his hand on a page, keeping it open on a particular drawing. "You have a painting of this Sesshoumaru in your book," he noted, looking at a picture of him and Inuyasha fighting. He cocked his head looking at it from a couple of different angles, "it is not that bad, but the flowers on the sleeves of this one's haori," he said, showing her his sleeve, "are sakura, not daisies."

"Whatever," she replied with an eye roll, "this is what I was drawing right now." she had been working on it for hours so that Rin's skin looked correct in the light of the fire and Sesshoumaru's silver hair flowed the right way. It had been hard to draw Ah Un and Jaken without them there, but she thought she had handled it rather well. She labelled the picture 'Sesshoumaru's pack in the twilight'; she felt like she had had to draw it, even with two members missing, the night time background was just too good to pass up. "Do you like it?" He did not reply, he just turned the page, and his whole body tensed as he saw the fallen warrior, "you have drawn this one more than the once," was all he said, even as he read the comment written underneath the picture.

"So how did you end up in that situation anyway? It was not Inuyasha who managed to do that to you right?" It was not that she doubted Inuyasha's ability, he had beaten his elder brother a couple of times before, but as Inuyasha was getting better, so was Sesshoumaru. Furthermore, once the hanyou got the upper hand, it was unlikely he would have had a touch of mercy and let him live, Inuyasha probably would have killed him. "In fact why did you choose to tell him anyway, you must have known he was going to fight you for it? Why not let him find out on his own, he would have figured out she was dead eventually."

"No relation of mine should be so idiotic as to fraternise with the enemy, the clay pot passed information to Naraku, I simply wished to tell him and punish him for it with a beating. You draw well about what you are passionate about, Inuyoukai fight well for what they are passionate about. It would seem Inuyasha was passionate about avenging his dead bitch; he was prepared to fight for the death. He is a good alpha he is passionate about all of his pack and would die fighting for any of you, and for that, the Sesshoumaru was unable to hurt him further. He took this one's compassion as the sign of weakness it was and used the wind scar on me, this time, Tensaiga did not protect me and I took shelter in the woods in a comer to recuperate until you ad Rin found this one."

"Why do you speak in a mixture of first and third person?"

"This one trust no one but his pack, I speak with strict formality with anyone outside of the pack so much so that I do not use such pronouns and use my name."

"So why do you use a mixture with me?"

"You are an exception, this one owes you a debt for saving my ward and waking possibly a whole week before I might have done by warming me and healing some of my injuries, that is a whole week less I am in danger. Seeming as I am more familiar with you, this one is finding I am using third person in my speech less and less and first person more." What Kagome found funny was that his explanation was more or less consistent with Rin's, though she had not needed to explain it using so many words, once the little girl was comfortable in her presence she stopped saying Rin, and started to say 'I' and 'me' and 'my'.

"Well goodnight Sesshoumaru sama?"

"It seems backwards that once you become familiar with someone, you start to use the proper respectful terms for them, one would usually use such rules the other way around and drop the honorific once they are familiar."

"Was that you giving me permission to simply call you Sesshoumaru?"

"Perhaps, but I want an explanation first."

"Well, at first I hated you; you tried to kill me after all, and Inuyasha, and you shouldn't because he is your brother. But then you took in Rin which is an act of compassion, one I do not fully understand seeming as you always came across as such a cold blooded killer to me. Then there was just now when you did not kill me when I came across you like a feared you might do, and you told me you owe me a debt because I looked after a ward, something only a Daiyoukai of true honour would admit. Then there was you not killing Inuyasha out of honour too and I have come to the conclusion that I do not know you well at all."

She smiled up at him, "I do not know you well, this evening is the only real time we have spent with one another after all. I do not know you well enough to know all that you are, but I know you well enough to know what you are not. I do not think you are the cold blooded Daiyoukai you are at face value; I think there are so many more layers to you, you are a man, or a demon rather of honour, with a side that shows mercy and compassion, even love when it comes to Rin. You earned my respect Sesshoumaru, so now I pay it to you."

"So you did not respect me before?"

"No."

"Not even when I displayed my power to you by showing how easily I could kill you?"

"What do you mean?"

"That day when I almost killed you, were you not awed by my strength?"

"It was amazing."

"Did you not respect me for it then?"

"Not one bit. Awe and respect are two very different things after all. When you tried to kill me, I feared you, but I did not respect you."

"But you respect me now. Realize I am only being cordial and familiar with you because you earned my respect so I pay it to you in return."

"I know, I still respect you for it, because you are different to how I thought you were. So why are you not familiar with your brother, if you respect him."

"His hatred of me is justly placed, after all, I should have taken him in once father and his mother died, instead I chose to hate him as a constant reminder of my father's infidelity. Once he started to get too familiar with Kikyou my hatred of him increased, she never loved him, only tolerated him and wished for him to be human in order to be with her. When he met you, you are best thing that ever happened to him and through seeing his loyalty to his pack, which was you, my hatred of him dissipated slightly, and more with the addition of the monk and the slayer.

Then when he started to fraternize with the clay pot it came back full force, and I planned to punish him by showing him she was a traitor. Then I realized that he knew, he knew she was passing information along to the hanyou spider and he simply did not care, he loved her too much. He was risking his life and the lives of all his pack but he still went to see her, he didn't care so I decided to kill her to save him. I killed the parasite that was changing him ad I shall give him time, we will defeat the hanyou spider together and then I shall start on fixing the brotherly bond I should never have allowed to break and we shall be family."

"I have never heard you talk so much."

"It is like you said; there are more sides to me than originally meets the eye."

"Are we friends Sesshoumaru sama?" It was bold to ask she knew, but they were having such a nice conversation she needed to know.

"You may consider me a friend as long as you refer to me with the correct honorific."

"Of course Sesshoumaru sama. But while we are familiar with each other do not call me onna or miko please, call me my name, Kagome."

He nodded but did not make reply.

"Goodnight," she said quietly, she was asleep and did not hear the 'goodnight Kagome' that drifted on the night air back to her.


	12. Sesshoumaru's pack

**Sketch 12 – Sesshoumaru's pack**

"Do you have to go already Kagome neesan?" Rin whined s she sat on her lap eating her morning meal, as if sitting on her would prevent her from leaving.

"I am afraid so Rin, you see I have friends waiting for me and I do not want them to worry. I have a son who relies on me too so I have to get back for him. I have a great responsibility to find all of the shards of this important jewel I broke. I promise I will come back and visit you though, that is if Sesshoumaru sama allows it of course."

Both girls looked over at the stoic demon Lord, and Kagome could say that she would have never thought he was actually going to say 'no,' not after they became friends the night before. "You shall not be visiting my pack, Kagome, for you shall not be leaving it. I am Inuyasha's older brother which means I am also your alpha, and I have decided you shall be accompanying me from now on. I can protect you better than the hanyou can and you need to stay alive in order to kill Naraku and I doubt Inuyasha's heart will heal in time in order for him to aid you."

"Still," Kagome reasoned, trying her best not to lose her temper with his arrogance, "isn't this sort of decision meant to be mine to make?"

"I am the Lord of the West," he said as if that explained everything.

"I have friends and a son to get back to. Didn't you say we were friends and that you owed me one, well repay me by stopping this outrageous claim."

"Offering you my protection, the best in all the lands, is repaying you. As for the rest of your pack, they are loyal and true as pack should be, so I am sure your friends will look after your son. We shall run into them in a couple of weeks at the most and then they can be assured you are safe. I suggest you add a modification to the latest picture in that sketchbook of yours, Kagome, 'Sesshoumaru's pack' in or not in the twilight now has a new addition."


	13. Travelling with the demon Lord

**Sketch 13 – Travelling with the demon lord**

Kagome decided to not try any escape attempts for the rest of that day and just followed behind him dutifully as if that was where she belonged. Rin for one was ecstatic about her joining his little group, of course with Jaken and the dragon missing they were only a group of three at the moment. She nattered in her eye nonstop about how glad she was Kagome was joining them and that she would have missed her terribly if she went away. The child could be tiring but she was adorable too, kind, selfless, innocent and beautiful too.

She wanted to run off, but she knew that there was just no point to it. Sesshoumaru was keeping an eye on her and obviously wanted her to stay, so if she was to run away, he would chase after her and manage to catch her easily. If that was to happen then she would be in his bad books and she could probably look forward to spending the rest of the week with his fingers around the back of her neck or something like that. There was no point in trying to escape until there was an actual chance she would succeed, because it was either manage or be a captive for the rest of the time she was travelling with the Demon Lord.

Sesshoumaru did not say much, he had never been talkative, but Rin more than made up for the lack of words from him by using twice as many words to say half as much with ever sentence out of her mouth. The only time he did speak was in the evenings around a fire after he hunted some animal for them to feast on, which Kagome did not eat of course. Kagome was really not expecting for Sesshoumaru to take the news so badly. What he was refusing to understand though was that she was not refusing to eat like he seemed to want to believe; she just did not like meat and was fresh out of food in her yellow bag.

When she finally managed to get through to him the real reason she was refusing to eat what he was throwing in her direction the brewing explosion inside him dissipated. He stared at her for a moment in disbelief, that was a look she had received many times, from Inuyasha and the others about how stupid it was, and pointless. He blinked once, twice, and then he disappeared into the woods, it was quite sudden and random, thoroughly confused and still hating him for basically kidnapping her; she dismissed it and went back to staring into the fire.

Then all of a sudden, just as her eyes were drooping, something landed in her lap. She looked in surprise at the small pile of fruit lying in her lap, mostly berries of different sorts. Her eyes travelled up further to see Sesshoumaru staring down at her with those deep amber eyes of his. Sesshoumaru, he had foraged food for her, that was surprisingly nice of him. "While you are under my care I shall not allow you to fall ill with your refusal to take care of yourself. I am alpha, and I order you to do so, now you will eat."

The Demon Lord cares? Or maybe it was just his desire for control? But foraging for this food took time. This warranted a picture, a certain demon Lord with an armful of fruit. 'Alpha's duties.' She could not think of a better title. She drew it in pastel, she didn't like it, but she liked to use pastel when drawing things like fruits and flowers. He was a good alpha, there was no denying it, Inuyasha did none of these things. Far from gathering and preparing food, he just ordered Kagome to do it, and he was the one that caused most of the conflict. _The duties of an alpha are to gather food for his pack and protect them. He must prevent conflict within his pack and guide all the members within it, even when some of the members are... difficult._

That of course, for Sesshoumaru, referred to her.


	14. A new light

**Sketch 14 – A new light**

A full week into being in Sesshoumaru's pack, and Kagome was beginning to get bored. Sure, talking to Rin was fun, and she always had her art to keep her busy, but her new alpha, acted like an alpha. He hunted for the pack so they could eat, and she insisted on at least helping to forage for her food. They had found Jaken and Ah Un now so Jaken was ordered to prepare a fire and cook the meat while Sesshoumaru just sat there in mild thought while Rin danced around the flames singing a song or picked flowers in a nearby field to make a wreath for her new pack sister.

Kagome rued how careless a child could be, she wanted to ask Sesshoumaru what he liked to do for fun, but he was a Daiyoukai, he did not have fun, he did not have hobbies. He enjoyed fighting, but to remain peace in his lands he did not seek it out, neither did he fight unnecessarily, with the exception of his brother sometimes. No, Sesshoumaru was a very silent character, they had not once shared a nice conversation like they had the day she joined his pack. He enjoyed peace and quiet, and while staying alert to danger he could tune out Rin's playing and Jaken's squawking and Kagome felt mean to disturb him then.

Sesshoumaru did a lot of silent brooding and his only real hobby was Rin, although it sounded wrong to describe her as such. Before Rin he had nothing and no one, not really, for Jaken was never a companion, only ever a servant. He should have had his brother, though it was really his own fault for scaring him away. He never showed love or care or even let his mask slip unless it was with her, it was like he used her for an outlet for all the love and care he was capable of feeling and protected her well and showered her with everything because he could.

Even though she had only been with him a week she was already noticing all the subtle signs of love he showed towards her. He tousled her hair before she went to sleep each night and sometimes let her sleep on mokomoko for extra comfort. In the mornings Kagome got lie-ins for unlike Inuyasha, he refused to wake her, and he greeted her with one of his rare smiles when she did wake. It was heart warming, but almost sad to think that he perhaps never smiled before her. It showed the cold and stoic Sesshoumaru in a different light, it depicted him as... lonely.

She had never had that before; she formed attachments quickly and easily, with everyone. Firstly it was her mother and grandfather, and when Souta was born she showed him with all of her love and care and presents and protection. She went to school and gathered friends with whom she could share everything, things she could not tell her family. Then she went to the feudal era and made a friend in Inuyasha with whom she shared everything and disclosed all of her trust into. She made a sister out of Sango, and a brother out of Miroku, and adopted a fox kit, Shippou. She showered him with love and protection and devotion too, which was lovingly returned.

She branched out and made friends all over this era, with Kouga the wolf prince, and Keade, the kindly priestess who was like a nice aunt to her or a grandmother, someone she had never had before. Then she had made friends with Rin, so much so the young girl had started to call her big sister, something she surely did not do for anyone. While Jaken had made no move to be friends with her, or even stop being mean, Sesshoumaru did not insult her, or rush her or do anything to upset her, and even Inuyasha took those liberties. And while she did not like Sesshoumaru and would not class him as a close friend, she held a small amount for affection for him, or at least for that one conversation they had had if they shared no attachment.

She could not help but wonder whether their relationship would grow in time. One week was not very long, but in time maybe he would start to show her subtle signs of care like he did Rin, like saying goodnight to her. Unfortunately she was quite sure things would never reach that stage, two months was the limit before she really _had _to go home and submit work to school and assure her family she was alive and healthy and happy enough. She was pretty sure she did not want Sesshoumaru knowing about this and if he did he might not be so hot on letting her go. This meant that she had to escape of be rescued before then.

But her time in Sesshoumaru's hold was not unhappy or oppressive in any way. Sesshoumaru had even dispatched of a couple of demons who had been carrying shards and did it a lot cleaner, quieter and easier than Inuyasha would have done it, so she was two more shards up. She drew whenever she needed to let out something that could not be done with words or doting devotion. And Sesshoumaru never stopped being silent and impassive but she was starting to pick up the small signs of communication he used instead of so many words.

For example when he wanted her for some reason all he needed to be was look at her and jerk his head. When he wanted for the group to pick up speed he simply quickened his pace, she would put Rin on Ah Un and walk faster. She realized that the copious amount of words she was used to using were simply not needed. She had an ever growing affection for him, it happens when you spend a lot of time with someone, so she decided to draw a symbolic picture to show it. She drew Sesshoumaru with a beam of light shining on him illuminating his peaceful face as he sat in his silence and called it 'Sesshoumaru in a new light.'


	15. Because of pack

**Sketch 15 – Because of pack**

Kagome had been marking the days, it had been nine days and she had still not been given any responsibility it was annoying. All members of a pack should pull their weight and right now Sesshoumaru did everything except for domestic things, which Jaken had to do. The fact Rin did not work to help was normal because she was so young but whenever she went to gather water or cook or make tea or lay out the furs for night time she was stopped by either Sesshoumaru or Jaken telling her it was not her job to do. She had to wonder what _was_ her job to do, but as of now she had not plucked up the courage to ask, she was as not scared of Sesshoumaru as she was, you know when he was trying to kill her, but he was intimidating.

Sesshoumaru had gone off on one of his little missions where he refused to take them with him. Jaken was under double as much pressure as he was used to because he had been charged with both of their protection and was threatened with death if either of them was hurt. He did not have to worry though, Kagome was a fabulous baby sitter, she was not going to wander off or let Rin wander off either. Because Rin was pack she would die for the child, like she would Shippou, or anyone she cared about, not just because they were children, but pack, like family. Nine days into Sesshoumaru's care, she almost did.

A rabid wolf had entered the clearing, a creature Rin was terrified of, and for good reason too. Jaken ordered them to get to get behind him with his staff of two heads at the ready. Kagome had immediately done so but Rin, terrified had just run off into the woods, and although it was crazy, it still had its instincts and he gave chase. Jaken was terrified and ran off after it, firing his staff again and again, but missing. Ah Un ran too, but he was not fast on the ground, only when flying, the wolf stayed ahead of him and Rin was being gained on fast.

Kagome did not really have an option, she could not just stay there while Rin was killed and she was faster than the toad and the dragon. Her bow had been snapped when Ah Un accidentally stepped on it a couple of days ago and although they had stopped in a village once her new alpha had refused to get her another one saying she would not need it under his care. Her purifying powers only worked on youkai, but she still had her fists. Once she was close enough she did something completely crazy, but in life and death situations you do it.

With one leap she was on the wolf's back, punching and kicking, even biting and clawing like crazy, bringing them both to the ground. Surprised, the wolf had a delayed reaction and although it batted her back and clawed her, it did not get any bites in thankfully, rabies was something she could do without. By holding it still it allowed Jaken to catch up and he blasted it with the flames, making Kagome have to jump out of the way to avoid getting burnt. Still going strong the wolf jumped back, straight into Rin, sending her toppling over the edge of a cliff – why was there always a cliff around for you to be knocked off?

Still terrified and in shock she did not even make a sound as she was sent to her death, but Kagome did. With a cry of "RIN," she was off the edge of the cliff too in an instant, heavier and streamlined she reached the little girl in a second, and holding onto her with one arm she grabbed onto some low hanging branch, also conveniently placed. It took all her might to support both her weight and Rin's with one hand, and so inevitably she started to slip. She was faced with a choice, either drop the girl to her death and pull herself to safety, or let them both fall to oblivion, neither of them were incredibly appealing options.

Just before the leaves gave way as did her wrist she felt someone grab her wrist and pull the two of them to safety, she looked up at their saviour expecting it to be Sesshoumaru but in the shadows she saw waist length black hair, and that meat only one thing, it was Naraku. She almost started screaming, Naraku had caught them, although exactly why he was saving them instead of letting them drop to their deaths while shouting insults at them was unclear, unless he wanted to imprison them, use them as bait or just plain wanted to torture someone. They were brought out into the light and she was about to shout out when she realized that oh wait no, it was Sesshoumaru after all. He had come back and saved their lives.

She let out a huge sigh of relief, and Rin attached herself to his leg exclaiming her gratitude, he did not even look at her as he ruffled her hair, his gaze remained on her, her chest to be precise. She was feeling tired, exhausted in fact after these experiences and wanted to go to sleep but could not do that until he told her what he was staring at. Glancing down she saw blood, a lot of it, her blood, spilling form multiple lacerations all over her body, funny, she did not feel much pain at all. She let out a rather stupid "oh," before passing out.


	16. The fallen miko

**Sketch 16 – The fallen miko**

When Kagome next woke it was day, although this did not give her any inclination of how long she had been asleep. It could have been since when she blacked out, the rest of that day, the night and... it was about noon given the position of the sun in the sky, but it could have just as easily been several days – she just sincerely hoped this was not the case. She was not lying on the ground either, she was lying on soft furs, and all of her wounds by the feel of it had been dressed and had healed a lot, though she could feel the pain of it all now.

She opened her eyes sleepily and found she was in her sleeping bag by a fire. Rin was off playing in a field nearby picking flowers, while Jaken and Ah Un watched her. Sesshoumaru was sitting nearby with his back against a tree. Her vision was blurry at first but as it cleared she realized he was flicking through her notebook. He looked up and seeing she was awake, calmly put the sketch book down and walked over to her. "You were very brave fighting the wolf in order to save Rin, especially seeming as you do not have any weapons."

Kagome just nodded, that was as close to a thank you as she was going to get, and then he had to just ruin it by continuing. "However, throwing yourself off a cliff was foolish, you could have both died, and I would rather lose one pack member than two."

"I would not be able to live with myself if I let her die. Rin is just a little girl, and I would always do everything I can for her. I would sacrifice myself for my friends in a heartbeat; it is the same for Shippou, Sango, Miroku and Inuyasha. That is what you do in a pack, you look out for each other, and so even though it may have been foolish, I really didn't have a choice."

He didn't reply, he just sat there and looked at her.

"If you don't mind me asking, why were you looking at my sketches?"

"You have drawn this one plenty of times, I have come to the conclusion I do not like the fact you saw me when I was vulnerable."

That did not really answer her question.

"I finished my own drawing, seeming as you were not yet awake I looked at your other work."

"You drew in my sketch book?" Kagome asked, not really angry but hardly believing her own ears.

He opened it to the right page and showed it to her. It was admittedly quite good, though not as good as her pieces of art, but it wasn't bad, who knew the Lord Sesshoumaru, could paint? She was so surprised she was not even embarrassed, seeming as she had spent at least 24 hours asleep instead of working on her art, she would definitely be taking the credit for this. Kagome could not help the small smile that tugged at the corners of her mouth as she looked at her battered sleeping form, entitled 'The fallen miko.' "Well I guess this makes us even," Kagome said, "you saw me when I was at my weakest too."


	17. When two alphas collide

**Sketch 17 – When two alphas collide**

Twelve days passed, and it was when she reached this time mark that they ran into Kagome's previous pack. Inuyasha looked awful, his long silver hair was matted, his amber eyes dull and lacking the life they usually harboured. Upon seeing her, his drooped silver ears perked up considerably and his large amber eyes widened. "Kagome," he said quietly in surprise, so much so it sounded like a question. Then he rushed forward and enveloped his arms around her in a tight hold, "KAGOME!" He called in relief this time. "I've been so worried about you, we have been looking everywhere but there was no trace of you."

"Inuyasha, I was not gone for all that long, I just had some school stuff to sort out. When I came back I found Rin lost and decided to help her until we found Sesshoumaru, I couldn't just leave her." She tightened her arms around him, "I am so glad we found each other."

"Well I am glad that you weren't so stupid as to run off into the woods alone after," he said, another thing the brothers shared, hid compliments and thank-yous behind insults. She had long gotten used to it from Inuyasha and did not even sit him for it anymore. "Though I am glad that the bastard did not kill you as soon as he saw you."

"Yeah, he tried, again, but, again, here I am."

"I am glad you're safe, I've come to take you back."

"Thank you, I knew you'd come for me Inuyashaaaaaaaaah!" Two large clawed hands grabbed her shoulders and yanked her back, tearing her from Inuyasha's grip and throwing her behind him, back into the folds of his own pack.

"The Shikon miko will not be joining you Inuyasha, she is now part of this one's pack."

"Since when?" He asked in outrage.

"Since this Sesshoumaru decided to make it so."

"I don't think so Sesshoumaru," and suddenly he sounded very serious. "You took Kikyou, the love of my life; you can't take my best friend, Kagome, too."

"As a matter of fact I can, in fact, I have."

"Well then I've come to take her back. She is part of my pack, I am my own alpha, and I shall never allow you to take her away."

"And what will you give me in return little brother? Tetsusaiga? I no longer desire such a sword, not only am I unable to wield it, but I possess I greater sword. There are many things that can take life, but only my Tensaiga can grant it. There really is nothing else of value that I want, go away and take your band of humans with you."

"Not without Kagome you bastard. If you aren't going to give her up willingly then I guess I am just going to have to fight you for her."

They both bared their teeth, drew their swords, and the battle commenced. Kagome felt like screaming. Not again! There was really nothing else to do in this situation other than draw what was in front of her as she watched the show.


	18. No better

**Sketch 18 – No better**

She felt like she should take this opportunity to go home, but not only did she have no idea where she was, she had no idea what direction the well was in either. Kirara looked injured, obviously they had been in a battle recently and she had gotten hurt. She was not going to trek into the forest alone, but it was about time she went to class, it was almost a fortnight now. Well she may as well use this time to catch up with her friends. She walked over to Sango and Miroku who were also watching the fight, but got tackled to the ground before reaching them.

"Kagome, I've missed you so much," the little fox kit screamed in delight as he jumped on her. "We were so worried when you didn't come back, and when Inuyasha realized that you hadn't come back for ages and weren't in your own time he said we had to look for you. He was hung up over Kikyou for a while but he bounced back like he always does. Why are you staying with Sesshoumaru, he seems pretty protective, is it true you are part of his pack now? I don't want you to leave, please Kagome, don't leave us!"

"Look Shippou, it's not like joining Sesshoumaru's pack was my idea, but I'll have you know he has been very good to me, a good alpha too." She walked over to Sango and Miroku and hugged them a greeting, "listen it's great to see you but I really need to ask a favour of you already," she said a little nervous. "It's not that Sesshoumaru has been keeping me prisoner already, he sort of claimed me as pack and I haven't had a chance to run away yet. I need to go home, but I have no idea where I am or where the well is, thanks to my new alpha I have no weapon, and I don't think Sesshoumaru will be too happy about taking me home."

"You're right," he said, suddenly appearing in front of them, "I will not allow you to go. Your home is where your pack is, and that is where I am."

"Well I am still needed where my blood family is, my mother and my brother."

"Did you not say you were well looked after here with me, that I am a good alpha? You are right, I am the best, much better that the hanyou." He cast a glance at said hanyou who had taken a hard blow to the head and was lying on the ground semi conscious.

"If you are refusing to let me go home, you are no better than Inuyasha is!" She disagreed. Oh he was so lucky he did not have a subjugation necklace.

He stared at her for a bit, "fine, I shall take you where you wish."

Kagome stared at him in shock, was that all it took? Did he not think that she could refuse to come back, and she was sorely tempted?

"Come on," he said, holding his hand out to her, we do not have all day.

**I know I told everyone I will be uploading a Sess/Souta story, I started writing about Sess/Kag, Kag/Touga and a Kag/Yamazaki for those who know him instead. I will be uploading the first chapter of my new Sess/Kag shortly, the chapters of this one will be longer than this one. Anyway, romance in sketch pad will commence soon.**


	19. What they're lacking

**Sketch 19 – What they're lacking**

"Wow Kagome," her class mates said as they gathered around her, "you're at the top of the class again!" She had been submitting one piece of work to her lecturer each day and the next she always came back top of the class. She added some finishing touches to 'The fallen miko' like a border, and even that go top mark. Of course this was almost all to do with her story, Kyo had gotten top marks because it was a useful guide he was making, but they had lost interest his work because they had become absorbed in what she was writing.

While she had been away Kyo had had time of being the top of the class, and when he was away like she was, other people had had their time of glory too. Now she was back and it was her turn, and everyone in the class was so impressed that they had stopped being jealous and just sat back and enjoyed the story, admitting she deserved top place. Well, that is everyone except one person; Kyo was travelling around drenched in his own little black cloud of woe like the childish Tamaki off Ouran high school host club.

The only reason why he did not take anything out on her was because they were meant to be together. Seeming as she no longer liked Inuyasha in the way she thought she did, due to his reaction when Kikyou died, she did not mind lavishing him with attention. After hearing him call her his best friend, as nice as it was, it hit home that they were never meant for each other. So as soon as she saw Kyo, after a hug and a chaste kiss, he was placated enough not to press charges for her stealing his light and attention.

"You have been drawing Inuyasha's brother a lot," he commented as he flicked through her sketch pad as she flicked through his. "Especially this one, 'Sesshoumaru in a new light', it contains what your early pictures does." He flicked a couple more pages to the one she had drawn of Inuyasha before allowing Sesshoumaru to take her home. "As for this one," he looked at it with a cocked head, "it is lacking." He kept turning from her latest picture of Sesshoumaru to her latest picture of Inuyasha, "definitely lacking."

"You're sounding like the teacher," Kagome half complained and put down Kyo's sketch pad to see what was making him be so sceptical. She laid down next to him on the floor of his bedroom, "just what exactly are my pictures lacking?"

"These ones are fine," he said, gesturing to the ones of Sesshoumaru, "but this latest one of your best friend, it seems as if it was done out of duty, you didn't enjoy painting it." he turned back to her first drawings of him, "these are spectacular, always have been, they are full of life, and it is easy to tell you had a smile on your face as you drew them."

"But... there isn't a line out of place," she argued, "the shading on Inuyasha's red fire rat haori and hakamas is perfect." She started to panic, she could not have done it any differently, "the shading is in perfect proportions and in all the right places," she started to mutter, "and I captured the defeated look on his face perfectly." Her face fell, it was brilliant picture, but Kyo was right, despite all of these things she claimed were perfect about it, and she could not have done it any differently in order not to gain the criticism, it just seemed... lacking.

An hour later once they'd moved off the subject, it was Kyo who gave her the answer. "Passion," he said as he just figured it out. He turned to Sesshoumaru and her earlier pictures of Inuyasha, "these have passion, your latest Inuyasha is lacking that."

Passion. Had she truly lost her passion for Inuyasha?

If this was true, did that mean she was passionate about his brother?

She stayed at school for a whole week, and reflected on the lack of passion for Inuyasha and the passion she apparently had for Sesshoumaru. It was undeniable, the passion was there, it did not mean all that much, it was just she had passion for Miroku and Sango and Shippou and Rin too. She did hold passion for Inuyasha, but it was not the sort of passion she thought it was, and once she had accepted that, there would be passion in her pictures again. She just did not think she was friends with Sesshoumaru, not after he kidnapped her anyway.

"One thing I want to know," Kyo said as he looked through her pictures once more, "is how you managed to be so passionate when drawing yourself," he said as he looked at 'The fallen miko', "it is the most passionate thing you've ever drawn."


End file.
